By Miles Mann WF1F, MAREX-NA (Manned Amateur Radio Experiment, North American Division)

There is a minor yet reoccurring problem with the amateur radio Personal
Message System (PMS) on board ISS. Intermittently the PMS will fail to display the list of messages stored in the memory of the PMS and the PMS
will not save any new messages. The OLD messages have not been lost, they are still in RAM memory. This problem seems to be happening once
or twice a week. We have been seeing this problem frequently over the past few months. The problem is called the "Message 33 bug" and it seems
to clear up by itself. The longest we have seen this bug on consecutive orbits is 8 hours, however, most times it clears up within a
few minutes. When the problem does clear, all of the old mail still appears to be
saved in memory without any loss of old mail.

All new mail received while in the Message 33 bug mode is lost. If you attempt to send a packet message into the PMS, while it is stuck
in the "Message 33 bug" mode, your new message will NOT be saved.

Here is what seems to be happening:

You log in, not knowing the PMS is stuck in Msg 33 mode, and then you
send a message to the ISS PMS.

The TNC will respond and tell you the message has been saved "Message saved as Msg # 1926"

Then if you try to do a listing (L or M) you will not see the message
number which was saved. Several stations in a row will all get the same
exact number "Message saved as Msg # 1926".

How to tell if the TNC is in Message 33 bug mode:

We do not want to use up too much bandwidth, by having everyone using
the LIST command before sending a packet mail message. That would be just too wasteful. Instead, I will suggest that you use the M (read
Mine) command. After you have successfully uploaded a NEW message into the PMS and closed the NEW message with the /EX command. Then use the M
command to list all of the message TO/FROM your call sign. The M command will only list message with you call sign in the To or From
fields. The M command will save time and if your new message number is listed, then your message has been SAVED.

When the normal List command is issued, the TNC will display only 1 message, and that message will always have the number 33. If you know
the TNC is having this problem, then please do not try to upload any new
mail. Just log off and try again on a different day.

Only message number 33 was listed. This message appears to be an old
corrupted messages. You should also note, that over 70% of the memory has been used up. The Date is also the 30th month of the year 1979.

What Causes the Message 33 Bug:

We do not know for sure. There are a few theories which are being looked into.
Here are some suggestions that may help reduce the frequency of the
problem:

Do not log into the unused keyboard port. The RS0ISS port is not used. Just use the Mail box call sign RS0ISS-1 port.

Always end your email messages with the /EX command. Never use the
Control-Z command.

Old mail manually cleared:

Last week I noticed the 64k mail box on ISS was getting full. Since we
have been seeing the Message 33 bug frequently, I informed commander Valery Korzun of the problems and asked him to clear out some of the old
junk mail.

Memory November 10, 2002 = 29737 Bytes free

On November 18, the mail box had been cleared of all except 11 new messages and the free memory had increased

60990 Bytes free
Next message Number 601
Mailbox selected: 0

If you are not sure of the correct procedures for using the ISS PMS, please review the information on the MAREX web page. The information
has been posted in three languages.

ANS welcomes the opportunity to publish your good news of success in working a new satellite, new DX, new mode, etc. We also print reports
about what space related activities your local satellite groups and ham clubs are doing. Send your operating reports to ANS Editor JoAnne Maenpaa
(wb9jej@amsat.org) and they will be printed here.

Stephen WU3I reports his first contact with NA1SS aboard the ISS last week:
"Back in April, or was it March, well it was the Timonium Hamfest I purchased
a set of KLM satellite antennas for 144 and 432 MHz. After a stellar
performance at Field Day where they made a contact on the first pass of the first
satellite on schedule they came home to my garage, until a few weeks ago.

After a trip to visit my friend and satellite mentor W3STW, I had all the
info I needed to track all the goodies in space. A few days later there was a pass
of the ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) and it was only
operating on packet. Well I had not used the TNC in so long I had to perform
a hard reset and by then well no more ARISS.

Finally on last Saturday night there was a pass starting around 10:55 PM local
time (03:55 Z). I set the antennas to due south and elevation to 37 degrees.
The TNC was all set up ready to send just like the websites all said to do for
digital. Instead there was a voice! I quickly changed the transmit frequency
from 145.99 to 144.49. There was Peggy Whitson in QSO with a W1 station.
I was only getting a poor copy of her at best as the Space Station was not at my set
elevation just yet but just as she signed off with the W1 there she was S9 and
then some. I quickly called once, twice and a third time and then came the
sweetest sound you want to hear ... WU3I this is NA1ISS! We had a quick
exchange and she was gone."

Ottawa - Nov 18, 2002 - The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced today the
awarding of six contracts, worth a total of $930,000, to Canadian space companies for developing generic small-satellite and micro-satellite buses to
meet the future needs of the Canadian space program.

In October 2002, more than 30 experts from ten countries met in working
groups at AMSAT-DL in Marburg, Germany. In the end, the first design criteria for the next project,
AMSAT Phase 3-E (P3-E), were settled. The amateur radio communication satellite should be in the
150kg class, very similar to its predecessors AO-10 (P3-B) and AO-13 (P3-C). The
goals are to provide analogous and digital radio communication, essentially between 145 MHz and 2400 MHz. Experimental modes for
wavelengths in the cm and mm range were also proposed.

OSCAR-11 is currently operating in a default mode, controlled by the watch-dog timer. The satellite transmits continuous ASCII telemetry
for about seven days on 145.826 MHz, followed by about 14 days of silence. However the mode-S beacon on 2401.5 MHz is ON
continuously. If the present status continues the satellite should be heard again, starting about 29 November.

At the present time, ground control are unable to command the satellite, due to low temperatures affecting the command decoder.
They will attempt to command the satellite when the command decoder temperature has risen to 15C.

During the period 18 October to 20 November the 145.826 MHz beacon has been heard transmitting continuous ASCII telemetry from 18 to
25 October and 08 to 14 November.

The internal temperatures have increased by one degree C. They are now +8.6C, 7.0C and 13.6 for battery, telemetry electronics, and
command decoder respectively. Eclipse predictions, show the solar illumination to peak around the start of November, and then
gradually decrease. In previous years the peak temperatures have always been a little later than predicted. The current temperatures
should assist ground control in commanding the satellite.

The battery voltage observed during daylight passes has varied between 13.6 and 14.0 volts, with an average value of 13.8 volts.

The attitude is now being controlled solely by the passive gravity boom gradient, and there is no control over spin rate. The continuous
telemetry has enabled the spin period to be calculated from the X & Y magnetometer readings. The spin period has varied from 407 to 234 seconds.
The attitude is normal.

The mode-S beacon is ON, nominally transmitting an unmodulated carrier on 2401.5 MHz. There is however a VERY low level of AFSK
modulation which has been detected on strong signals. Telemetry indicates that the beacon has partially failed, and is delivering
half power. This beacon is a useful test source for those testing mode-S converters, as an alternative to OSCAR-40. However the signals
are very weak, and there is a lot of Doppler. Users should also note that the polarisation of OSCAR-11 is LHC. Even if you can't hear
OSCAR-11, your equipment may still be OK for OSCAR-40. Any reports of reception on 2401.5 MHz would be most welcome. Please e-mail
g3cwv@amsat.org.

The 435.025 MHz beacon is normally OFF. However it can sometimes be
heard when the satellite is being commanded by ground control, i.e., within range of Guildford, UK. When the 435 beacon is transmitting,
the 145 beacon is normally OFF. The data transmitted is mainly binary.

Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my web site.

The web site contains details of hardware required and some software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry and WOD. There is
an archive of raw data for analysis, which is continually being expanded, as new data is captured. Originally this was for WOD, but
it is now being expanded to include ASCII telemetry. At the present time
the telemetry is just for 2002, and 2001. I will add other years as time permits. In parallel there is a news archive which
provides an overview of the state of the satellite, at the times when the telemetry was captured.

Telemetry from 1993 to 2000 should be relatively easy to archive, as I already have the data on disk. Data prior to 1993 will take a lot
longer to archive, as I have to convert it from tape to disk. A tedious process! The early data is often of poor quality, and there
are many long gaps where no recordings were made.

If anyone out there can provide any data, particularly for the 1984 to 1993 years, this would be most appreciated. Please e-mail me
with details. However please DO NOT SEND ANY FILES, before further discussion.

Also included are some audio files, examples of each type of data transmitted by OSCAR-11, each one plays for about ten seconds. There
are also examples of mode-S reception. All the audio files are zipped, so that they can be played off-line. These should help
listeners identify the various types of data, and give an indication of the signal quality required for successful decoding.

The ARISS (a joint effort of AMSAT, the ARRL, NASA, the ARISS international
partners including Canada, Russia, the European Partners, and Japan) operations team wishes to announce the following very tentative schedule for
ARISS school contacts. This schedule is very fluid and may change at the
last minute. Remember that amateur radio use on the ISS is considered secondary. Please check the various AMSAT and ARISS webpages for the latest
announcements. Changes from the last announcement are in italics.
Also, please check MSNBC.com for possible live retransmissions (http://www.msnbc.com/m/lv/default.asp). Listen for the ISS on the downlink
of 145.80 MHz.

For information about educational materials available from ISS partner space
agencies, please refer to links on the ARISS Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you are interested in supporting an ARISS contact, then you must fill
in an application. The ARISS operations mentor team will not accept a direct request to support an ARISS contact.

You should also note that many schools think that they can request a specific date and time. It does not work that way. Once an application
has been accepted, the ARISS mentors will work with the school to determine a mutually agreeable date.

Expedition 6 is scheduled to go up on STS-113. The launch is scheduled for No Earlier Than 2002-11-23. Scheduled ARISS contacts
are off limits for the first 3 weeks after the handover. Scheduled ARISS contacts will probably resume in mid December 2002
or early January 2003.

Currently the ARISS operations team has a list of over 60 schools that we
hope will be able to have a contact during 2002-2003. As the schedule becomes more solidified, we will be letting everyone know. Current plans
call for an average of one scheduled school contact per week.

Within 48 hours of turning up his new 1296.300 MHz beacon in Derry, New
Hampshire, Ed Parsons K1TR, received a phone call and a signal report from
the Chief Engineer at the Millstone Hill Observatory in Westford, MA. This
would turn out to be the first, last and only QSN report the beacon would
receive.

The good news: the observatory hearing it loud and clear! The bad news:
The observatory was hearing it loud and clear. So loud that the engineer
told K1TR that the beacon's signal was impacting the observatory's capability to track satellites in certain directions. Also, that the
recipient of the satellite tracking information, the US Air Force, would
not be pleased.

It seem that the Air Force radar uses about 8 MHz of spectrum centered at
1295 MHz. They use an 8-foot dish for an antenna. The K1TR beacon was
less than 30 miles line of sight from the observatory.

So the Ed's 23cm beacon is off the air while he finds a new home for it.
Anyone with a good UHF site more than 50 miles from the town of Westford
but still in New England, and who is willing to host the beacon, should contact K1TR by e-mail to
esparsons@lucent.com

[ANS thanks Bill Pasternak WA6ITF and Amateur Radio Newsline for the
above information.]

Haruo (Harry) Yoneda, JA1ANG, former AMSAT BOD member is in the hospital recuperating from pneumonia. Feeling ill on the flight back
from the AMSAT Space Symposium, he went to the hospital and was admitted. Martha talked to him on Friday and he sounded pretty good.
If you want to send a card, his address is Haruo Yoneda, 15-1305 Shimouma, 2-Chome-26, Setagaya-Ku Tokyo 154 Japan. Unfortunately, at
this time his e-mail is not working.-- Martha